Why is Kamala Harris struggling to win over some Black male voters? Boston panel weighs in.
ROXBURY - It's crunch time for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump as Election Day is less than two weeks away. The Harris campaign is still working to win over some Black male voters as the election approaches, and a panel discussion in Boston shed some light on possible reasons why.
Kamala Harris' support among Black men
James Lambert III has been working to find the answer to why some Black voters are hesitant to vote for Harris.
"A number of Black men are not voting for Kamala Harris, despite her being identified as the Black candidate. Why?" Lambert said.
It's a question Harris has been working to answer herself in the last few weeks leading up to the 2024 election in hopes of securing a White House win.
It was also one of the questions posed at Wednesday night's intimate panel discussion in Roxbury hosted by Lambert, the moderator and curator.
"Let's keep it real, men are not voting for her because she's a woman," panelist Cleon Byron said.
"I'm not voting for her because I don't agree with her policies," panelist Antonio Miles responded.
"I don't think she has campaigned well," panelist Will Onuoha said.
"This event started with a conversation about how do we raise funds for Kamala Harris and instead of just doing a fundraiser, I felt like we had to have an earnest conversation," Lambert said.
Panel of Black voters weighs in
The panel made up of five Black men, from across the political spectrum, voiced opinions and concerns about Harris' prosecutorial record:
"Her job is to prosecute those who were brought before her and [provide] balance of justice. Myself, I don't see anything wrong with that," panelist Dana "Supreme" Richardson said.
Immigration and Harris' heritage were also topics of discussion.
"Black means different things to different sets of Black people," Onuoha said to the room before diving deeper into the conversation.
"Her question of being Black, African-American, all that, is just noise out there. It doesn't change anything that she's trying to do for the American people," another attendee of the forum said.
How Harris hopes to earn support from Black men
Harris has made what some would call non-traditional stops on the campaign trail to reach Black men, including a sit-down with Breakfast Club host, Charlamagne Tha God. Former President Barack Obama also hit the trail to urge Black men to vote for Harris.
Harris recently announced an Opportunity Plan for Black men, saying she plans to earn their votes.
When asked what he hopes people walk away with, Lambert replied, "We want folks to walk away challenging how they came into the space."
"We have to have this conversation if we're going to have change," Byron said.
"I think if we did this quarterly, that would be really good," Onuoha said.
